Month / November 2011

“This is a pilot for a proposed iPad and music show. We hope you enjoy the first attempt and welcome any comments or suggestions for future episodes. In this episode we look at some iPad mounting and protection options and also GEO Synthesizer, the latest App from Jordan Rudess’ Wizdom Music.” – youtube.com/user/sonicstate

I want to see Apple glass replace all my interfaces so this is a start. The new Digitech iPB-10 Programmable Pedalboard has 87 virtual pedals, 54 amps, and 26 cabinets. Of course there’s no reason you can’t use this with synths, vocals, etc… $500

“The iPB-10 Programmable Pedalboard sets a new standard for guitar signal processing. By harnessing the power of the iPad®, it combines the simplicity of a pedalboard with the flexibility of a multi-effects.” – digitech.com

If your into retro noise you may like Zx Plectrum. It’s a one trick pony but then again it’s just a buck. I grabbed it and annoyed everyone around me for a good twenty minutes. That alone was worth the dollar.

“Play the ZX Specturm loading sounds as a musical instrument on your iPhone/iPod/iPad! Relive the crisp sounds of your youth! Change the loading phase and pitch to make some weird but familiar sounds!” – davesapien.com

I really like the Folktek hand made music machines. Besides some unique sounds they are perfect to put on show in music videos. If I had an extra few grand laying around I would consider the Drum Scape. Has any of you ever used or seen a Folktek instrument in person?

“When requesting a Drum Scape, you can expect something in the vein of the works you see here. Each is a little different but all hold true to the future antique asthetic and all have the same capabilities unless it’s obviously an expanded on version (such as the Midi Drum Scape” or the “Drum Scape Sequencer”).” – folktek.com

“The powerful and fun-to-play monotron analog synthesizer has been joined by two siblings. The Dual Oscillator monotron DUO offers X-MOD capabilities for generating even more extreme sounds. The monotron DELAY features a Space Delay that can produce intense, analog-like echo effects.” – korg.com

Beginning next March Apple will require Apps sold through the Mac App store to be “Sandboxed”. Sandboxing keeps the app in it’s own space and restricts what it can do system wide. Apple does this on iOS to protect your phone from being hacked, taken over, etc… One side effect is that as far as things stand today you can’t use plug-ins. Obviously for musicians using sequencers this would have serious implications. Before you get into a huff we will still be able to install and use unsandboxed Apps and plug-ins as long they are not sold on the Mac App store. Two things could happen here. First, Apple could eventually require Macs to use the Mac App store. Imagine having to Jailbreak your Mac? A more likely scenario will be a new type of plug-in architecture will be implemented that works in a way Apple likes. What do you think?

“In computer security, a sandbox is a security mechanism for separating running programs. It is often used to execute untested code, or untrusted programs from unverified third-parties, suppliers, untrusted users and untrusted websites. The sandbox typically provides a tightly-controlled set of resources for guest programs to run in, such as scratch space on disk and memory. Network access, the ability to inspect the host system or read from input devices are usually disallowed or heavily restricted. In this sense, sandboxes are a specific example of virtualization.” – Wikipedia

I finally was able to gather together some photos from my live show on Saturday night. As you can see it was a bloodfest. The Smack! Halloween Fetish Ball is an annual event. Even though NYC experienced a freak snow and ice storm people came out. I met and watched the Orlando band The Ludovico Technique (a name from the movie a Clockwork Orange) from Orlando, Florida perform. They had a mountain of gear with them including an SKB rack just for vocals. I saw an old Boss SE50 and TC Electronic Voiceworks in there. Of course they also had a grinder (tool). There was also semi live sex show “sexorsism” and some good goth/ebm DJs some from the old days and some new. Thank you to Xris and crew for producing the darkness.

“SMack! is New York City’s Premier Multimedia Fetish Play Party. NYC’s Longest running Fetish Event, we’ve been setting the trends since 1996, and after 15 years worth of events, we’re still pushing the envelope with new Performers / Models / Fashion Shows, cutting edge music / DJ’s, VJ’s / video artists/projections, play equiptment / machines, Dungeon Play Space/Dominatrix Hosts…” smack-fetish.com

I’m pretty excited about this plug-in. While aimed at Filmakers NI’s new plug-in Damage has my inner Einstürzende Neubauten feeling happy. Beyond the sound set the plug-in has a lot of tricks up it’s sleeve such as an Rhythmic patters, AMP sequencer, filters, compression, saturation, trigger effects (yay), 3 mic mixer, etc… $339 and 30GB of space required will keep the amateurs away which is a plus. Be sure to check out the sound sources gallery on the NI site to see all the places they went to record all the klanging.

“Dark, aggressive, thrilling and threatening — DAMAGE is breathtaking cinematic percussion with a tense, epic edge. DAMAGE gives you 30 GB of drama, fusing industrial sounds and orchestral drums into a devastating electro-acoustic barrage. Percussive Kits provide more than 200 deeply sampled percussion sources, and over 500 single-shot elements, recorded in up to seven velocity layers and with up to nine round-robins per drum. Over 700 beat-sliced loops come as menu-style loop suites or as single loops for detailed tweaking. Even the most complex sounds are instantly usable, and it’s all in hair-raising, big-screen quality.” – Native Instruments